Pre-screening of 'Sketches of Frank Gehry' by Sidney Pollack

Today I had the pleasure and privilege of seeing the new Sidney Pollack documentary on Frank Gehry. Done in a very raw hand held-style whereby Sidney Pollack himself became part and parcel of the footage, this films reveals much about the inner working and inspirations of an architect whose architectural buildings have all but won him International acclaim. Through straightforward questions, Frank answers back. No high brow intellectual jargon that architects are all to eager to impress. Pollack films Frank creating and designing using simple tools: paper and sissors and human miniatures to give the buildings a sense of scale. To the architect in me (I have an architecture degree from the University of Toronto), I relate completely to what he doing. No doubt the public might gasp at how primitive it appears. Having met Frank at a lecture when I just finished my studies in Toronto, I felt he was just an okay architect at the time. But as the years passed, I began to see his work taking on a greater and even more experimental side. I began to see his art and creativity blossom. This documentary is somewhat timely for me, as it reveals to me that artists have to take risks, but only for what is his own set of limitations and moral belief. I believe that Frank is truly genius. His pencil sketches are videotaped up close. I mean, really close to the point we can see the graphite texture etched into the paper. Sidney realizes and understands that these are his first tools to realizing a concept. The energy contained in them are priceless, as they directly come from Gehry's creative mind. This documentary may not dazzle the ordinary layman, but to anyone that has visited the Bilbao Museum in Spain, you will find this a fascinating account of a brilliant and master creator.

The Controller of Undesirable Publications...

My body is aching...after all the hustle and bustle of the book launch last Friday and the weekend. I delivered copies of 2.AM book to Page One and HMV, two vendors that supported me 2 years ago. But who would have ever thought that HMV would place a hard-cover book such as mine on their shelves? Anyway, I'm happy that the book is there and I hope that it does just as well as my first book, if not better.

Now here is the real question: will Singapore allow my 2.AM book to be sold in their city? I sent a copy to the government's MDA (Media Development Authority). And I'm waiting patiently now.... If they say okay, then I'll have a book signing/launch thing there. If not, then....well, sorry Singapore, you'll have to order online or fly yourself over to HK to pick up a copy. And in case you didn't know, my first book. 1.AM was banned. I mean, what for? My work is artistic, tasteful, and meaningful. Oh, but then, this is my interpretation. My Art is political by the very nature of what is NOT allowed in the country. The letter didn't say why my book was banned; they offered no explanation. And at the time, I was very sick from sciatica and couldn't be bothered to write back and argue the case. But what was intensely disturbing was from whom the letter was written from, the "Controller of Undesirable Publications"....

2.AM book launch was a success...

One of the things about being an artist and self publisher is the amount of shameless promotion that I have to do let people know who I am. The last few weeks has been actually a bit crazy, with me going out to the bars and clubs to talk about my latest creation, 2.AM, my second photography book. In addition, I have been caught much too drunk for my own good, cause I remember staying out so late one night that my friends convinced me to go have dim sum with them at 6am in the morning. Fxxx!

Anyway, the book launch was a blast. I had tons of fun, although moments before the launch, I was scrabbling around in shorts and a smelly sweaty shirt tugging my trolley cart of books to Billy Boy Cafe on my own. My assistant miscalculated the time, turned off his phone -- so there I was on my own. Luckily, he called and apologized profusely and got himself over to the launch pad in 30 minutes. I think about a 100 or so guests showed up, including a few of the models. Do you want to see the images? Check it out at my picasa album: http://picasaweb.google.com/nypstudio/2AMHongKongBookLaunchPics

For your info, if you are interested in getting a copy of the book, just go to my website at http://www.theasianmale.com and order online. Of course, you can also pick one up in Hong Kong at HMV or Page One. I just delivered the books to them yesterday....so they should be on the shelves by the weekend.